Role of legal rules in cooperation and peaceful settlement of disputes in transboundary river basin: interaction theory of law revisited

Abstract

This article interrogates the misunderstanding about the inability of legal rules to influence relations between states in transboundary river basins. Building on the interactional theory of law, the author formulates three analytical frameworks for understanding the role of legal rules in the processes of cooperation and peaceful settlement of disputes in transboundary river basins. The article ultimately argues that law offers broader utility than previously envisaged to these processes. In conclusion, it teases out five such utilities of legal rules as demonstrated by four case studies in a broader study. HIGHLIGHTS The claim that law cannot affect relations between states, especially in the context of their transboundary rivers, is unfounded.; Interactional theory of law provides a prism for better understanding the utility of legal rules in general.; In this case, the theory tests and provides the broader utility of legal rules in the processes of cooperation and peaceful settlement of disputes in transboundary river basins.;

Keywords

• constructivism
• dispute settlement
• interactional theory of law
• interdisciplinarity
• transboundary river basin